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This book acknowledges the severe problems with effective and significant collective action, but arrives at a more optimistic diagnosis of our time by rethinking the political from the angle of the experiences with progressive and conservative collective action in different parts of the globe: Brazil, South Africa and Europe. By doing so, it contributes a critical perspective to the debate about the possible impact of parts of the Global South for positive social and political developments world...

"The diverse narratives captured in The Community's College demonstrate the ways in which community colleges continue to serve as powerful catalysts for social and economic mobility, not only for the students whose stories are told here, but for their families and the communities in which they are located. Equally important, the analysis offered by Dr. Pura and Dr. Parker unveils how community colleges-distinctively American institutions-are more essential than ever to fulfilling our nation's hi...

In The Good Representative, Suzanne Dovi argues that democratic citizens should assess their representatives by their display of three virtues: they must be fair-minded, build critical trust, and be good gatekeepers.* This important book provides standards for evaluating the democratic credentials of representatives.* Identifies the problems with and obstacles to good democratic representation.* Argues that democratic representation, even good democratic representation, is not always desirable.*...

Governor Howard Dean of Vermont argues that you have the power to change the future course of America. If you are worried about the way America is being governed and want to reclaim the country you know and love, now is the time to take it back. You Have the Power is an energetic and detailed guide to restoring American democracy. It exposes the radical extremism of today's "mainstream" Republicans and shows Democrats how to be Democrats again. By reigniting hope, by tapping into the energy a...

"Discusses Liberia's settler and neo-colonial development, failure in state-building, collapse followed by its two civil wars, and reconstitution from 2005 under the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf"--Provided by publisher.

This volume analyses the evolution of selected public policies and the changing roles and structure of the state in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain since the 1960s. It makes a major contribution to work on recent democratic regime transition in southern Europe, demonstrating how the state has responded and adapted to the challenges and pressures associated with the overarching processes of democratization, socio-economic development, and Europeanization.

Australians did not invent political democracy, but they have created a unique form of it. Australia's Democracy tells the story of the political structures Australians have made. It's a story which traces the growth of democratic rights and freedoms from convict times until the present. It charts the transitions from the era when racism limited political rights to today's concern that everyone's human rights be respected; from the demand that governments be free to carry out the people's wishes...

Buying into Change examines how the development of a mass consumer society under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975) inserted Spain into transnational consumer networks and set the stage for Spain's transition to democracy during the late 1970s. This transition is broadly significant to both a Spanish public still struggling to redefine their society after Franco and to scholars who have long debated the origins of Spain's current democracy, yet many aspects of it remain lar...

Hans Kelsen is commonly associated with legal theory and philosophy of law. Democracy in Its Essence: Hans Kelsen as a Political Thinker instead investigates Kelsen's democratic theory as it developed between the 1920s and 1950s, which challenged the existence of democracies in many different respects. Kelsen provided a critical reflection on the strengths and problems of living within a democratic system, while also defending it against a series of specific targets: from the Soviet regime and B...

"New Formations" is a journal of cultural debate, history and theory. It brings new and challenging perspectives to bear on the categories that frame cultural analysis and political action. The journal has covered issues ranging from the seduction of perversity to questions of nationalism and post-colonialism. Contributors open up new zones of enquiry whilst drawing new charts of understanding to explain new formations in contemporary life. "New Formations" brings together in one volume both est...

1999 saw two major international crises which, looked at side-by-side by Noam Chomsky, illuminate the strategies of the Western powers in the new century. In East Timor the warnings of further escalation in an unfolding humanitarian disaster could not have been more apparent. The referendum on independence was predicted to prompt widespread savagery towards the local population by an Indonesian army and their cohorts. Noam Chomsky points out, the West did not need to do very much to prevent this...

Conservative leader Ken Blackwell and Washington, D.C.-based constitutional attorney and journalist Ken Klukowski identify and discuss twenty-one tactics being taken by the Obama administration to restructure the country and ensure perpetual liberal rule--such as changing voting laws, politicizing the census, coercing corporations into adopting its policies, planning to destroy talk radio, and seeking to make millions of illegal aliens into voting citizens.

This book presents a study of the relationship between Cabinet-level Ministers and top civil servants in Ireland. The nature of this relationship can potentially have far-reaching effects on people's lives as it can influence the type of public policy agreed at top levels of government. A total of sixteen interviews were carried out for the research, eight with retired Cabinet-level Ministers and eight with retired Secretaries General of Irish government departments. Anonymity, not just for the...

The volume explores the complex but increasingly important dilemma of the relationship between citizens and education in liberal democracy. As western societies and now, as central and eastern European societies, undergo dramatic change and transformation, the definitions and substantive problems associated with liberal democracies has assumed increasing attention. The contributors to this volume examine various countries. In France, the secular state is investigated. Through studies of other co...